Heroic Second Wind
The climactic battle royale between The Hero and the Big Bad and The Hero is losing. After a long struggle, the Big Bad finally manages to get through the hero's defenses and score what looks like a decisive hit. The hero crumples, looking to be in a dire strait indeed. Usually at this point the villain takes the opportunity to gloat a bit and humiliate his opponent verbally or physically, believing the hero to be his to dispatch at convenience. This is called 'Second WInd. ' Often, the hero's loved ones will be watching them getting the beat-down in a horrified state, which adds to the despair of the situation (and is a pretty bad hit to the hero's confidence). In more violent examples, the hero will have wounds that really ought to be fatal. Then, just when everything seems to be lost, something happens. With a sudden all-out effort, the hero rises, often presaged or accompanied, ready to rejoin the battle and despite the apparently crippling injury just sustained, there's no question at all that the hero's going to end up standing over the villain's smoking corpse — or, more generally, triumph in whatever way is appropriate for the genre. There are hundreds of ways to do this trope, but some of the most popular ones are: *Realize what it is that you are really fighting for if you haven't done so yet. *Think of your friends. *Your belief in yourself is so strong that you refuse to give up. *Your cause is so important, you are simply not allowed to lose. *Resolve an inner conflict that has been holding you back. *Your magical trinket starts glowing and heals your wounds. *Just get really enraged or do the opposite: Calm your mind and focus. *Ask the spirit of your ancestors, your deity or just the universe in general to give you more strength. *A loved one is in danger! *Realize that you are correct and your opponent is not; being the moral one will also make you superior in combat. *Use sheer grit and force of will. *On the brink of death you uncover a yet-unrevealed power. *Did you make a vow to yourself or a promise to someone else (for example, "I will definitely come back!")? You're not going to break your word, are you? *Is your belief in yourself or your weapons so strong that nothing can faze it? *Fight the way a person like you would fight, rather than copying someone else. *Have a friend or a random kid beg you to stand back up. It'd be rude to let them down, right? *A ghost, a Spirit Advisor or some other Deus ex Machina does the same. *A Superpowered Evil Side that was hidden until this point suddenly surfaces. *Remember what the Big Bad has done and all of his atrocities and then use The Power of Hate. *Realize that whatever collateral damage that might come around by unleashing all of your power is nothing compared to what will happen if this villain beats you. *The Big Bad makes the mistake of reminding you about all the people that you loved that he killed or harmed. (Bonus points if he obviously enjoys those memories.) *Realize that the Big Bad can take all of the power you've been holding back. Bonus points if you've been terrified of what you're capable of up to that point. Examples *Spider-Man: The Green Goblin, having kicked the tar out of Spidey and shrugged off all his tricks, vows to kill Mary Jane slowly and painfully once he's done. Then, Peter gets back up and beats the Goblin until he's begging for mercy. *Simba:: During the climax, Scar nearly backs Simba off of Pride Rock while he's trying to guilt-trip him. But just as he's about to push him off to his death, he whispers to Simba what he intends to: "I killed Mufasa." Within seconds, Simba springs up, pins Scar to the ground and chokes him until he admits the truth to everyone in hearing range. *Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians): snaps out of his Heroic B.S.O.D. after seeing his memories and realising why the Man in the Moon chose him to be a Guardian. *Balto finally accepts his wolf half after meeting the white wolf. *Rick Grimes if a villain says anything about his family or even Carl and Judith they will get beaten up pretty good then, get killed. He did this to Joe groups when one of the men have sex with his son. Rick had enough of the torture for his family from Joe and his group, he started killing Joe and the guy who raped Carl. He also had enough of Negan tormenting him about the death of Abraham and Glenn death, and his family and Carl. *''MonsterVerse'' **Godzilla manages to gather enough strength to get back up on his feet after suffering many severe injuries from a terribly long battle with the M.U.T.O.s and being crushed by a skyscraper after killing the male M.U.T.O.. **King Kong gets thrown into a shipwreck by Ramarak, where he is tangled in its chains. When Ramarak is about to deliver the killing blow, the humans distract him long enough for Kong to free himself and continue the fight until he finally manages to kill Ramarak by violently yanking out his opponent's tongue, ripping out his internal organs through the mouth. *Roberta gets slammed down onto the Jurassic Traders Outpost and pinned down by the Indominus Rex, who prepares to snap her neck with her jaws in a similar manner she had with an Ankylosaurus hours prior until Blue joins the fight. Together, Roberta and Blue corner the overwhelmed Indominus at the edge of the Jurassic World Lagoon, where she is dragged underwater and killed by the park's Mosasaurus. *Po is momentarily bested by Tai Lung in their final showdown, who finally retrieves the Dragon Scroll, but is unable to understand or accept its symbolic meaning. Eventually, Po defeats Tai Lung in combat before using the mysterious Wuxi Finger Hold to vanquish him to the Spirit Realm, ending his reign of terror for good. *''Star Wars'' **Luke Skywalker's big counter-offensive in Return of the Jedi. ** Anakin Skywalker gets his own in the same film, mustering just enough energy left in him to hoist Palpatine and toss him to his death, at the cost of his life. ** In The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan gets one of these moments in his fight against Darth Maul, coupled with Heroic Resolve, after his Unstoppable Rage doesn't work too well. ** In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren has Rey dead to rights, backed up to a cliff, and chooses that moment to offer her training in the Force. This reminds Rey that she is Force-sensitive, and she taps into it to defeat him. *In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor has just lost his right eye whilst fighting Hela and is being pinned down by her whilst she gloats, saying that she's the goddess of war and death, and mockingly asking him what he's the god of. Thor starts to black out until he sees Odin in a vision. Thor says he can't beat Hela without his hammer, and Odin asks him if Thor is the god of hammers. Flashback to reality, and Thor realizes what his godly portfolio is supposed to be, blasts Hela away, and heads to the Bifrost to join the battle, while "Immigrant Song" plays. *Yang Xiao Long's Semblance manifests as a variant of this: she gains more power in proportion to the damage she takes. As long as she can stay conscious in a fight, her strength will continue to accrue. Exemplified in Seeing Red, when Yang uses her Semblance when low on Aura, catching Adam's finishing blow in her prosthetic arm. She then rips Adam's sword out of his hand and uses the entirety of her remaining energy from both her Aura and Semblance to punch Adam across the bridge, breaking his Aura as well. *Jack Skellington hears Sally's screams as she is tortured and about to be killed by Oogie Boogie. This enrages Jack as he manages to save her and Santa Claus and confront Oogie himself. He manages to avoid all of Oogie's traps and pull his loose thread, releasing Oogie's bugs that were inside his sack-like body, thus putting an end to Oogie's reign of terror and saving Sally and Santa from him. Quotes Gallery Images Tails_the_Fox.png|Tails facing Hypno-Bot after a brainwash Morristown robot injures Sonic. Ratchet_the_Lombax.png|Ratchet preparing to hits Dr. Nefarious with his Omni-wrench before he can kill Quark. Yugi's_Angry_Stare.jpg|Yugi, have enough whoever he face, decide to face him a duel even it means to risk his life. Luigiangry.gif|Luigi enraged after losing a game. Simba forcing Scar to admit he murdered Mufasa.png|Simba pinning Scar to the ground and forcing him to admit the truth about his father's death. Jack Skellington fighting for leadership.png|Jack Skellington pulling Oogie Boogie's thread and eliminating his body, having enough of him trying to harm Sally and Santa. Balto's_heroic_wolf_howl.jpg|Balto finally accepting his wolf heritage and howling with the White Wolf. Videos Infernocus vs Optimus Prime - Transformers 5 The Last Knight HD|Optimus Prime having enough of Infernocus for torturing him. Jurassic World (2015) - Dinosaur Alliance Scene (10 10) Movieclips|Roberta joining forces with Blue against the Indominus Rex after being overpowered and nearly killed in the fight. Category:About Heroes Category:Heroic Events